by Bethany Shaw
“No,” Lark cried out. She shook her head no and struggled against Devon’s grip. “I’m not leaving without Sarah.”
“We’re leaving them?” Nora gasped. She swiveled around to look at the clearing and dug her feet into the ground.
“Vincent and Sarah,” Claire choked out.
Devon shook his head, his golden irises shining as he continued to hold Lark back. “We can’t wait, Mom. There are wolves coming. I know you see them,” he yelled.
Nora’s rubbery feet did not want to move. They couldn’t just leave them, could they? She squinted as Daniel drug her through the grass to the van. She didn’t see anything.
“We have to go, Lark,” Devon shouted as she struggled in his grip. Lark bucked against him yelling. He lifted her up and shoved her into the van. “Hold her,” he said to Jackson.
“No,” Lark screeched, fighting against the two men. “We can’t just leave.”
Devon turned back to Claire. “Mom, there are at least a hundred wolves heading this way. We can’t fight them all.”
Claire let out a strangled sob and stood defiantly in the grass.
“Get in the van, Nora,” Daniel instructed. Nora hesitated. She didn’t know Sarah or Vincent that well, but the thought of leaving them behind brought tears to her eyes. They were good people. “Please, get in, Nora.” Nora sighed and turned to the van, but couldn’t help but look over her shoulder as the two brother’s approached their mother.
Daniel turned to Claire. “Mom,” Daniel said, pulling Claire to him. “Dev’s right if we don’t go right now, we are all going to die. We can’t fight that many.”
Claire’s face scrunched up as tears trickled down her cheeks. Daniel led her to the car and hurriedly opened the passenger door, helping her inside. He slammed the door shut and slithered into the van after Nora.
Nora slid the door shut and followed Daniel as he took a seat on the floorboards between the driver and front passenger seat. He latched onto her arm and tugged her into his lap, his arms encircling her waist.
Devon jumped in the driver’s door. He threw the car in drive and jammed his foot down on the gas, sending them all lurching forward. Lark screamed again, her legs kicking out as she attempted to struggle out of Jackson’s arms. Claire buried her face in her hands, crying.
A heavy weight settled over Nora. She swallowed the thick lump in her throat as tears pricked the back of her eyes. They’d just left Sarah and Vincent behind. She couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen to the pair.
***
Nora reached into her camouflage jacket pocket and pulled out her medicine. She popped the pills in her mouth, dry swallowing them. The interior of the car was silent. Nora’s legs were stiff from being scrunched in the same position for too many hours. Lark’s and Claire’s sobs had finally quieted. There was an occasional sniffle, but no one said anything. What could they say? Two of their own were either dead, missing, or being held against their will. Nora shuddered. She honestly didn’t know which of the three was worse.
Daniel’s forehead rested against her shoulder. His warm breath whistled against her neck. He hadn’t moved in quite some time and she suspected he was sleeping. They’d stopped very briefly for him to complete a change and for Amelia, Jackson, and April to return to their human forms. Thankfully, Claire had thought ahead to pack some extra clothes in case the wolves would need to change.
Nora twisted, looking back at April. She had her arm wrapped around her sister’s shoulder and was cradling the youngest child in her other. April gave her a small, sad smile as their eyes met.
They’d rescued fourteen lives today but lost two other’s. Her stomach knotted, wishing somehow they could go back and change things.
Daniel groaned beneath her, he leaned back and reached his arms to the sides as far as he could without hitting someone else in the crowded van.
“How far away from home are we?” Daniel murmured against her throat.
Nora shook her head. “I’m not sure.” She looked at the dashboard, the greenish-blue numbers staring back at her. “We’ve got to be close.” They’d been on the road for hours. The sun would be rising soon, Nora thought.
“When we get back we need to make plans to go back for them. Set up a rescue mission,” Lark said, her voice hoarse from crying.
“We don’t even know if they are alive,” Devon said quietly. He gripped the wheel tightly and let out a long sigh. “We can’t go back in without knowing they are alive. It’s too dangerous. We have to take out Juarez first like we originally planned.”
“Then we do it, today,” Lark ordered. “If Sarah and Vincent are alive we need to get them back before anything happens.”
Nora closed her eyes and squeezed Daniel’s hand. She couldn’t imagine what he, Devon, and Lark, or even Claire were going through right now.
“We will discuss everything when we reach the ranch,” Devon said. He looked up at them from the rearview mirror his expression stoic and unreadable. It must be awful not to know whether they were alive or dead. And if Vincent and Sarah were alive, she couldn’t even fathom the fear the pair must be feeling at the moment.
Claire turned in her seat and looked back at the back of the van. “We’ll need to get Rosita when we return. Was she not able to come?” Claire asked her gaze on Emma.
Emma sniffled her eyes tearing up. “They killed her a few months ago.”
“What?” Claire gasped. “Why?”
Emma’s eyes darted around the car. Nora followed her gaze, noting all the children were sleeping. “She was no longer fertile,” Emma said quietly. “And since she never had a daughter, they didn’t see a need to keep her alive anymore.”
“Oh Rosita,” Claire sighed, closing her eyes, she turned back to the front of the vehicle.
Daniel let out a long breath behind her and shifted against the floorboards.
“How are you feeling?” Nora whispered.
“I’m all right. Are you?” he murmured.
Nora relaxed against him. The back of her shirt stuck to her, his blood had seeped through her top and settled on her skin. Dirt was crusted beneath her fingernails and sweat glistened on the back of her neck. Physically she was fine. Mentally was an entirely different story.
“I’ll be okay,” she sighed.
His arms pulled her closer and he nuzzled her neck. Nora sighed settling further into the safety of his embrace.
***
Natalia repositioned a flower on the arch and then stood back to admire her work. It was perfect. She just hoped that Lark approved. The blonde had asked to be surprised which had given her free reign on the flowers. She had decided to use red, orange, and yellow flowers to go with the fall setting. The leaves had already started to change colors and the sharp, vibrant colors of the flowers looked beautiful with the tree as a backdrop.
“There you are,” Gene said, coming up behind her.
Natalia smiled and turned around. “I did not realize you were looking for me.”
“You didn’t come back to bed after Adrian went back to sleep,” he said, kissing her neck. “I missed you.”
Natalia’s heart fluttered at his words. “I was feeling inspired,” she said, motioning to the flower arrangement.
“I can tell. I think Lark will love it,” he said against her neck.
“Have you heard from them yet?” Natalia inquired. She swallowed, willing her racing heart to slow.
“Not yet. But we agreed to radio silence just to be safe,” Gene said.
“And you think Juarez has no idea that they left?”
Gene shook his head. “Maddie said he seemed convinced by her story and the paperwork she gave him. Of course, she had no idea at the time they had left either. So, unless Juarez or his men somehow saw, I don’t think he knows. Well, unless the Luna’s have been in contact.”
“I will feel better when everyone is home,” Natalia shivered.
“Me too.” He pulled back and pointed to the arch. “You reall
y have a talent. Have you thought about doing something professionally? We’ve never really talked about that.”
Natalia sighed and looked at the arrangement. She was pleased with how it turned out. “It would be nice,” she conceded. “But I am not Lark. I don’t have the funds to open a shop and to be honest, I am not sure I could put in that kind of work right now. Adrian is still so young, I would not want to be away from him for that long. I can imagine I would need to spend lots of time setting up and organizing before I could open.”
“I want to make sure you are happy here, Talia,” Gene said. “Maybe a shop isn’t a good idea now, but we could set up a garden at home. You could even work from here if you wanted. It would be no trouble at all. We already have people on the ranch to look at horses anyway.”
Natalia smiled at his sentiment.
“I’ve also been thinking,” he paused and cleared his throat. Reaching out, his fingers trailed down the side of the arch. “That maybe we should take our relationship to the next level. I love you and I want the world to know it.”
Her heart stopped as she looked up into his brown eyes. She’d never been so sure of anything. Gene was the love of her life. “I love you too.”
“Is that a yes?” Gene asked, lifting one eyebrow up.
“Yes,” Natalia said capturing his lips.
Gene’s phone chimed from his pocket and he pulled away as he tugged it out. A frown marred his features as he stared down at the illuminated screen. “Hello,” he answered gruffly after a long moment.
“Eugene Harris,” Fernando Juarez crooned into the phone.
Natalia shuddered, hearing his loud, obnoxious voice floating out from the speaker.
“What do you want?” Gene asked, his hand reached up and he pushed her loose hair back from her face.
“I must admit, I never saw the attack on the Luna’s coming. Great play,” his voice lilted.
Natalia swallowed, did he sound proud, she wondered.
“Unfortunately, not everyone made it away from the Luna’s compound. I was going to contact Devon first, but he isn’t answering his phone. I wanted to show you firsthand what happens to those who trifle with me. Fair warning, it isn’t pretty.”
The phone clicked and Gene pulled it away from his ear. He shared a look of concern with Natalia before his phone lit up again as a text came in.
Natalia drew a shaky breath in as Gene pressed his finger over the open button. She gasped, clutching her chest as the image appeared.
“No,” Natalia whispered. Her breath quickened as she took in the two bodies strung up from the rafters of a barn. Blood dribbled down their bodies and thick puddles pooled below their dangling feet. Angry bluish bruises covered the male and female. The soft blonde hair of the woman fell in soft waves and Natalia knew instantly who it was. “Is that...” she trailed off unable to finish her question.
Gene squinted at the screen for a long moment. “Sarah and I think the guy is Vincent. He’s too lean to be Daniel or Jackson.”
“They killed them,” Natalia’s voice broke. “I should have never told Lark Sarah wanted to go.”
“It’s not your fault,” Gene said, jamming his finger over the button. The image flickered away, but Natalia knew it would haunt her every time she closed her eyes.
“They’re dead, Gene,” she gasped. “We have to do something about Juarez now, before anyone else gets hurt.”
“I know,” Gene answered gruffly, pulling her in. “We are going to take action and everyone who has died is going to be avenged. I promise you,” he said with conviction.
Natalia buried her face in his shoulder. She believed him, but part of her wondered how many more people would have to die before they got justice.
Chapter Twenty-one
Lark’s hands shook as she looked at Gene’s cell phone. She’d known when he’d called everyone into his office immediately upon arriving that something had happened, but this, it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Sarah was not dead—her baby sister was not dead. “It’s not her,” Lark croaked out as she clutched the phone in her hands. She sank down to the floor as tears pricked the back of her eyes. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be her.
Devon wrapped a hand around Lark as he knelt down next to her. He blinked, staring at the picture. She wanted him to tell her she was right that it wasn’t Sarah, but he didn’t.
“You can’t see her face,” Lark sobbed, the despair rising in her voice. The woman’s blonde hair looked just like Sarah’s, but until she saw her face, she couldn’t believe. Then again, maybe she didn’t want to see the horrified expression gracing Sarah’s face. She didn’t want to remember Sarah like that, but she also needed to know.
Devon swallowed loudly as he placed a kiss to her temple. She took in the man in the photo. His face—Vincent’s face was also out of view. Both heads were slumped down, their chins against their chests. A flicker of hope surged through her and she turned to Emma.
“Were there any blonde women at the Luna’s? Do you recognize the man?” she jumped to her feet and rushed to the brunette, showing her the picture. She held her breath, her eyes intent on Emma.
“No. I’m so sorry,” Emma whispered apologetically.
Lark closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. Her heart sunk and she fought back her tears. Her younger sister was dead, Devon’s brother was dead. The room whirled around her and she couldn’t breathe. Her chest was heavy and constricted painfully.
Nausea rolled in her stomach and bile rose up her throat, causing her to gag. Her hands shook violently, Devon’s hands wrapped around hers and he pulled her to him.
“We’re going to figure this out,” he mumbled his voice gruffer and thicker than usual. “I don’t know that this is Sarah and Vincent, but right now, I can’t say that it isn’t. This looks like it could be them,” he said gently. “I promise you, Lark, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Lark wiped at her tears. Focus! She needed something to focus on. “We should attack again as soon as possible. The sooner the better, it will be unexpected. We can take him out and then head back to the Luna’s.”
“We should mourn,” Claire breathed. Tears streamed down her face and she grabbed a tissue from the box on the end table. “Rushing into something could result in more deaths.”
“No Lark’s right,” Daniel spoke up. He grimaced as he stood up from his place on the couch.
Lark watched him through red-rimmed eyes as he hobbled a few steps forward. Devon huffed and shook his head.
“He won’t expect a strike so soon. We just got back from the Luna’s. He knows Vincent and Sarah’s deaths will shake us.” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “If we don’t take advantage of the situation now, we’ll regret it later.”
Lark closed her eyes, letting the tears fall freely down her face. She just wanted this to be over. Juarez needed to pay for everything he’d done, for all the people who had died because of his tyranny. Red clouded her vision and she bit her lip as she channeled her anger. “We have the upper hand,” she persisted. “We can finish them before more reinforcements come. It was our original idea too.”
“Our dead should be put to rest. Vincent and Sarah-“ Claire started to argue.
Devon cut her off. “We can mourn them after we get back. They would want us to strike at the best time. We dishonor them by waiting. We should follow through with our original plan. Juarez will no doubt be calling for reinforcements.”
Gene stood up from his seat at the desk having remained silent until now. “First things first, you guys need to get cleaned up and rest. Daniel needs to shift a few times to make sure he is healed.”
“An attack at night would be better,” Devon agreed.
“Talia and I will finalize the details and prepare the men. You guys should get some sleep and clear your heads, so you can be ready for tonight. I don’t want to lose anyone else,” he said, quietly.
“Thanks, Gene,” Lark whispered. Gene gave her a small nod. His eyes shone
in the light and Lark realized he must have been holding back his own tears. She and Sarah were his family, and even if he didn’t show it, Lark knew he was grieving for her—for Preston, for everyone.
“Get some rest,” Gene said, patting Devon on the shoulder than drawing her in for a hug. “This ends tonight.”
***
Nora padded into her bedroom. Her hair was still slick from her shower and her body was refreshed, finally clean of all the dirt and grime. She stumbled as she saw a familiar form at her window.
“Hey, how are you?” Nora asked, shutting the door behind her. She walked to her dresser and picked up her pills. She popped a pill in her mouth and dry swallowed, she repeated the process then closed the lid.
Daniel turned to her and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry about Vincent and Sarah,” Nora said not really knowing what else to say.
“I just keep thinking that we should have done more, you know?” Daniel said, balling his fists at his sides.
Nora closed her burning eyes. Tears threatened to spill over and she bit her lip to keep it from quivering. “I thought about it too. But at the end of the day, she chose to stay and fight, and Vincent chose to go after her. We did what needed to be done to protect the pack. There wasn’t anything else we could have done.”
Daniel nodded. “Vincent and I were...we never had the kind of relationship I wanted, you know? We somehow always ended up at odds with each other and I always wanted to fix it, but now I’ll never get a chance,” Daniel whispered with a frown.
Nora walked toward Daniel and enveloped him in a hug. She wanted to help him—do something to take the pain away. “I’m sure he knew how you felt.”
Daniel clung to her, burying his face in her hair. She ran her hand up and down his back in an effort to calm him.
“How are your injuries?” she asked, pulling back far enough to look up into his eyes. The bleeding had stopped once he’d transitioned, but the amount of blood he’d lost scared her. Not that she was an expert—it just seemed like it had been a lot.
“Better. I’ll have scars, but they’re scabbed over and look older than they are,” he explained. “I’m ready for tonight. We need to take the fight to Juarez. I don’t think anybody’s ever done this to him before. He won’t know what to do.”
